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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29539869">Father's Day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terr/pseuds/Terr'>Terr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Open Heart (Visual Novels)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:08:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,037</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29539869</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terr/pseuds/Terr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ethan makes sure to celebrate the Father's Day with his daughter Matilda.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ethan Ramsey/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Father's Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun was long set at the time Ethan stepped into the apartment and even though he rationally knew that it was late, he couldn’t quite give up on his hope that maybe Matilda was still up. On the days like this, when more patients came in than out of the hospital and there was so much of a paperwork that he has to bring it home with him, there is nothing Ethan loved more than to put his daughter to sleep and then spend a nice quiet evening with Chiara.</p><p>But of course, Matilda was fast asleep – judging by the silence filling the whole apartment – and so Ethan was looking forward to skipping to the part of sharing an evening with his wife.</p><p>Chiara didn’t notice him as he stepped into the living room, her nose slightly crinkled as she was filling some papers spread on the dining table, white earpods in her ears.</p><p>
  <em>Looks like I am not the only one to bring work home with me today. </em>
</p><p>Ethan stopped in his tracks for a moment, just inhaling the familiar scent of Chiara and <em>home</em> and absorbing the picture in front of him. Even after alsmot ten years since he met her for the first time, even though she was his wife now, someone he woke up next to every morning, Chiara still – <em>always</em> – managed to knock the air out of his lungs. How her smile only gained more brightness through the years and how she looked almost like <em>a</em> <em>girl</em> with her hair braided on one side.</p><p>Had he been an artist, he would call her his muse.</p><p>But he was just a man, a doctor with any artistic words stuck in his throat and so he just kept staring at Chiara and thought, <em>inspiration</em>, that’s what she was, because even the most rational of men could get inspired.</p><p>„I can feel you standing there,“ Chiara exclaimed suddenly, putting the earpods off and turning to him with <em>that bright smile. </em></p><p>„My apologies,“ he smiled faintly and crossed the distance between them to give her, what Chiara called ‚a proper greeting‘. He kissed her softly and it only took the feeling of Chiara’s warm body under his hands to ease the tension in him almost completely.</p><p>„Matilda missed you tonight,“ Chiara murmured into his chest, not willing to break their embrance.</p><p>„As I missed her,“ Ethan sighed. „Did you have an eventful afternoon?“</p><p>Chiara chuckled at that, parting from him at last to switch her phone off and leave the work on the dining table.</p><p>„Just the usual. The teacher asked them to draw themselves in the future and she couldn’t decide which version of that future she should draw because she wants to be everything.“</p><p>Ethan could imagine the conversation very well. Matilda, at the age of five, knew exactly what she didn’t want to become when she grows up - a doctor. She kept shifting between wishing to be a travel blogger like her aunt Kyra or a photographer like aunt Alicia. After a weekend spent in Providence, she proclaimed that she could also imagine being a cable repairwoman like grandpa, because grandpa has the coolest coworkers that came over and let her eat chocolate cookies and watch football with them. And if by any unfortunate coincidence she should become a doctor after all, she would definitely be a surgeon like uncle Bryce, because he actually cuts people and that’s much more interesting than her parents’ job. All they do is <em>talk</em> about the patients.</p><p>„I promised her you would take her to school tomorrow. You have rounds in the morning but I can taker over,“ <em>which would only be a service for you</em>, she thought to herself. „That would certainly make her feel better.“</p><p>„Was she that sad that I didn’t come home earlier?“</p><p>“Oh, she was more sad about the Father’s Day program at her school – you know, the one where kids and their dads go together - but I explained her why you had to miss it.”</p><p>Ethan furrowed his brows, confused for a while.</p><p>“Why do I have to miss it?” he asked as he picked Matilda’s stuffed llama from the floor.</p><p>“It’s the Wednesday when you are at the conference in Seattle.”</p><p>Ethan put the toy on the couch next to Til’s favourite blanket and sat down before responding, his voice carrying no sign of hesitation.</p><p>“If there’s a Father’s Day program at her school and she wants me to be there, I’ll be there.”</p><p>Ethan knew all too well why he was so persistent on being there.</p><p>He wished he didn’t know, but he did.</p><p>Because he knew what it felt like to spend so many of his Mother’s Days programms with his teeth gritted, wishing it could all just end.</p><p>He could still remember the first Mother’s Day without Luise, how his teacher walked into the class and told them that they would create nice postcards for their moms and how Ethan’s classmate pointed his finger at him and said: „And what is Ramsey going to do? It’s not fair that he doesn’t need to do anything for the whole hour.“</p><p>It was the first time Ethan punched someone.</p><p>There was no way, <em>no way,</em> that he would allow his daughter to feel any of those feelings.</p><p>His thoughts were interrupted by Chiara, now sitting right next to him, a soft concern visible on her features.</p><p>„Alan and Naveen would go with her, you know. She wouldn’t be alone.“</p><p>„I am her father.“</p><p>„And you are also an author of the study this whole conference is going to be about.“</p><p>Ethan knew Chiara was right, just as he knew that she was doing this not because she didn’t want him to attend the programm, rather because she respected and supported his career.</p><p>But her arguments were of no use. Ethan’s mind was made up and he only wondered if this is what it felt like, all those years ago, when he pushed Chiara away in order to support her career. The idea of putting career first was making him uncomfortable and all he could do was to think, <em>how did Chiara see it all those years ago?</em></p><p>Or rather, how did he not see it back then?</p><p>He had no answers, only his gratitude that she stayed and showed him the world through her eyes.</p><p>„Aurora is just as much of an author as me. She can handle the conference without me just fine. You can go with her.“</p><p>„Me?“ Chiara asked incredulously.</p><p>„Sure. They don’t really care which Dr. Ramsey will come.“</p><p>Ethan aged well. More wrinkles circled the corners of his eyes and the grey hair on his temples were not an optical illusion anymore (and Chiara has never found him more handsome than now) and his gaze changed too, the cold blue of his eyes almost forgotten, as his eyes were warm and soft almost all the time he was with his family.</p><p>Ethan aged and changed and yet there was a thing that didn’t change in the slightest in these last years. His insufferable stubborness.</p><p>And so Chiara knew that he won’t change his mind and that there was no point in trying to and while it warmed her heart to see how in love with Matilda Ethan was, the study <em>was</em> important to him.</p><p>Obviously not important enough, however, and Chiara decided not to push him any further. Instead, she asked curiously.</p><p>„And what are you going to perform? What if Matilda wants to do something crazy?“ Chiara raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"Of course she won’t want anything crazy. What if it were my father and Naveen taking her?”</p><p>Chiara laughed wholeheartedly at his question, because for someone so brilliant, sometimes Ethan was desperately clueless when it came to people around him - and what they were willing to do for their daughter.</p><p>“Please, this is Naveen and Alan you are talking about. Matilda could say she wants to sing Hakuna Matata and they would come dressed as Timon and Pumba.”</p><p>“Ah,” Ethan exhaled, obviously only now realizing that Chiara was, indeed, right. And singing - or <em>dancing</em>, for God’s sake - was not part of his plan. “Well, she can play some basic compound on the piano, she has learned some already. And I could accompany her on the cello.”</p><p>Chiara choked on the water she was just drinking, turning to look at Ethan so swiftly, his brows furrowed in a concern for her neck.</p><p>“On a <em>what</em> now?”</p><p>“A cello. I thought you knew that I used to play the cello as a kid.”</p><p>“Of course, but the <em>as a kid</em> part is important. I mean, I played a piano as a kid and now I couldn’t play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star if my life depended on it.”</p><p>Ethan laughed, wrapping his arm around Chiara in a half-hug and had to bite his tongue not to tell her that maybe Matilda could teach her, as she already could play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star exceptionally well.</p><p>“I might have stopped playing actively when I was ten, but I found a certain sense of serenity in music – and playing – for a long time after that. I-,” Ethan stopped himself, mulling over his next words. It was not like he didn’t want to tell Chiara anything, but talking about his years at med school was not something he did often. “I befriended a music shop’s owner back in Baltimore. He was a nice guy, barely older than me and so very different. He had musical instruments for sale there and as we became closer, he let me borrow the cello and play a little in the back of the shop. It became a thing that helped me clear my head when school became too stressful and it also helped me not to forget how to play. I think Matilda’s level on the piano is very close to what I can remember with the cello.”</p><p>Now all he had to do was to find someone who would borrow him the cello.</p><p>*** *** ***</p><p>Ethan always found it amusing, how his mornings with Matilda differed compared to Matilda’s mornings with Chiara.</p><p>He made sure to wake her up earlier than usual, so that they could cook breakfast together and have some time to spare.</p><p>Chiara – the person that hated mornings more than eggplants – did all she could to stay in bed for as long as possible. She would rather prepare Matilda’s breakfast in the evening and <em>run</em> to the school than wake up before 6 AM.</p><p>And it seemed like Matilda realized this difference quite soon, for all the times Ethan came to wake her up, she knew she could ask him to join her in bed for a few minutes.</p><p>“Hey, little Rookie,” Ethan whispered, softly stroking Matilda’s curls out of her forehead so that he could press a gentle kiss on it. “Time to wake up. We don’t want to be late for school.”</p><p>The little Rookie nickname was first used when Til was perhaps one year old and it made her giggle so hard Ethan kept using it. Chiara found it extremely funny, always pointing out that Matilda was nothing if not Ethan’s exact copy – and she was right. With her big blue eyes and long curly dark hair, there was no doubt that she was Ethan’s daughter. Not that the similarities ended in her physical appearence – she was phenomenally subborn for a five year old (to which Ethan always argued that she could as well inherit <em>that</em> from Chiara) and sarcasm was her second language. She also might have used ‚fuck‘ once or twice and Ethan knew it’s not Chiara she heard that from.</p><p><em>You should call her little Terminator</em>, Chiara always teased and partly, she was right.</p><p>But there were many traits and marks of Chiara in their daughter, marks not so visible but unmistakely hers. How Matilda’s smile was always bright and warm and sincere, something only Chiara could pass on. How she came home one day from school and asked Ethan if he could make cupcakes with her, because her classmate loves cupcakes but his parents are too busy to make them for him and so she would love to bring him some to school. How she appreciated the most common of things, like sun shining because it makes her skin warm and also rain falling because she can jump in the puddles. Her genuine curiosity and open heart and just her general need to make people around her feel good.</p><p>That was all Chiara’s mark and Ethan loved his two girls so much it sometimes still surprised him. That he was capable of such love.</p><p>It also made him want more sometimes. More people to love that much.</p><p>„Snuggle time, please?“ Matilda smiled, her eyes still closed and Ethan was prepared, he knew this request would come and so he didn’t even need to check the watch to know that he could lay down next to her, the tiny bed making his position rather awkward.</p><p>He snuggled Matilda from behind and between her slow stirs as she began to wake up and his soft kisses put on the back of her head, he whispered how excited he was to attend the Father’s Day program with her.</p><p>*** *** ***</p><p>Ethan didn’t even need to try hard to persuade Matilda that a piano-cello duet would be better to perform than a dance. She liked the idea from the beginning and after going through her music sheets with Chiara, she happily exclaimed that they could try to learn Hedwig’s Theme together. Her eyes were bright and full of excitement and Ethan knew the decision was already made, because he couldn’t resist that face.</p><p>And so they performed and for a girl who was five and her father, who was almost fifty, they did a great job. Seeing Matilda’s pure, unadultered joy and excitement and so much gratitude that her dad could be there with here, was something Ethan would consider one of the best moments of his life forever.</p><p>Tillie was almost jumping up and down with the happiness as they watched her classmates and their fathers or grandfathers or mothers in some cases or maybe even uncles perform their numbers. She was clapping hard after every single one and she kept waving at everyone, her smile so wide Ethan thought for a while that she resembled Bryce more than anyone. The thought made him chuckle, because Matilda would love to hear that, as Bryce was her hero and possibly the best person she could spend her sleepovers at.</p><p>Ethan could hardly say that he enjoyed being surrounded by so many people, but he sincerely did enjoy spending the day with his kid. He didn’t regret choosing making a fool out of himself in front of bunch of kids instead of the conference. He almost forgot about the conference altogether until Aurora’s call interrupted the bustle full of laughter around them.</p><p>She only called him to let him know that all went well and she was off to have a lunch with other diagnosticians that helped with the study.</p><p>“Yes, alright. I’ll see you on Monday. Good job, Aurora,” Ethan put the phone back into his pocket and turned to Matilda.</p><p>“I am sorry you missed the conference because of me, dad.”</p><p>Ethan knelt down so that he could face his daughter, the very same blue eyes he knew from mirrors, looking back at him, wide and curious.</p><p>He smiled softly, kissing Matilda’s forehead before responding.</p><p>“I am not. No conference is that important, and just between the two of us,” Ethan lowered his voice and put his best serious face on, causing the mischievous sparks ignite in Tillie’s eyes “Conferences are <em>so boring</em>. You saved me from a torture.”</p><p>She giggled and threw her arms around Ethan’s neck, squeezing him as hard as a five years old could.</p><p>“Now let’s go, I think there’s an ice cream that needs to be eaten.”</p><p>“But daddy you said ice creams are sugar bomb!”</p><p>Ethan chuckled at her shocked expression - not sure is it was a genuine one or an act - and took her little hand into his.</p><p>“I’ll pretend I don’t see you eating it.”</p><p>Matilda squealed and before her ‚no sugar in this house‘ dad could change his mind, she stormed off in the direction of the ice cream truck.</p><p>Before she could reach her destination, however, she stopped in her tracks and tugged on Ethan’s sleeve, pointing at the little girl sitting under one of the trees – alone.</p><p>„That’s Dorothy! She is my best friend.“</p><p>Yes, Ethan remembered Matilda mentioning Dorsey, her best friend, quite often, but he never got a chance to meet her before. The girl was tiny, much smaller than Matilda – which inherited Ethan’s significant height, too – her hair almost white and her eyes similar to Matilda’s, big and blue but not even close to being as bright.</p><p>„She doesn’t have a dad,“ Matilda added, her voice much less excited now. „She didn’t want to come here but her mom has to be at work.“</p><p>Ethan’s heart tightened at her words, the description of Dorothy’s situation reminding him of his own when he was a kid way too much.</p><p>„Why don’t you go and ask her to join us for an ice cream?“ Ethan smiled at Matilda faintly.</p><p>Before he could as much as blink, Matilda was gone and in the very next moment, both girls were back, smiling up at him, his own kid widely and Dorothy very shyly.</p><p>„Hello, Dorothy,“ Ethan knelt down and smiled at her encouragingly. „I am Ethan. It is my pleasure to meet you, Matilda talks about you a lot.“</p><p>„Hello,“ Dorothy muttered, not meeting his eyes and Ethan noticed she was holding Matilda’s hand.</p><p>Without any other word, he stood up and led both girls to find an ice cream truck, only half-listening to what they were talking about – enough to recognize that Dorothy was much more open when talking to Matilda, but not enough to register particular words.</p><p>Maybe that’s why Matilda’s next question took him off the guard.</p><p>„Right, daddy? I was just telling Dorsey that <em>you</em> could be her dad, right? And I would be her sister!“</p><p>Ethan’s eyes widened and before he could find the right words – gentle but also firm enough to explain that that’s not exactly how these things work, Matilda spoke again.</p><p>„She could come over anytime and we could have sleepovers like the ones I have with uncle Bryce or grandpa and we would play together and I could borrow her my toys, right?“</p><p>Ethan nodded and smiled, <em>of course Dorothy is always welcome to stay at our place</em>, and let the topic go, because there was nothing wrong about his daughter having best friend that would come over.</p><p>Thirty minutes later, all three of them sat at the grass and ate their ice creams and it was easy to forget the previous converstaions.</p><p>*** *** ***</p><p>Until he came into his office, a week after the Father’s Day and found Chiara waiting for him, her arms crossed at her chest and her expression unusually stoic.</p><p>Before he could ask what was wrong, Chiara spoke.</p><p>„Matilda’s teacher just called.“</p><p>„What?“ Ethan stepped closer, automatically reaching into his pocket to make sure his phone, wallet and car keys are there and he is ready to leave and pick up Matilda at any moment. „Is something wrong? Is she in trouble? Sick?“</p><p>„She is absolutely alright,“ Chiara shook her head sligthly, her face unreadable – something that scared Ethan more than her visible anger. „She just called me to let me know about the rumors going around Matilda’s class these past few days. She thought it would be better if I found out from her rather than from other parents.“</p><p>„Rumors?“ Ethan asked, utterly lost and confused.</p><p>It took all the willpower Chiara had not to let her facade slip and keep her expression neutral. But teasing Ethan was one of her main hobbies, even after ten years, and so she tried her best.</p><p>„Apparently, Matilda and Dorothy Wilkins told everyone that they are in fact sisters. They have different mommies but the same dad – no other than the famous Dr. Ramsey,“ now, it was really hard not to laugh. Ethan’s whole face paled and the confusion was quickly replaced by recognition. „The other kids shared the news with their parents and now those parents talk.“</p><p>Ethan didn’t know that Matilda told Chiara about her idea of Ethan becoming Dorothy’s dad the very same evening she shared it with Ethan himself and even though Chiara tried to explain why that idea is not going to work the way the wished it would, Matilda was stubborn. Meaning, Matilda adopted Dorothy as her sister anyway and didn’t mind sharing her dad with her.</p><p>„Fuck,“ Ethan whispered, pacing around the office, not really looking up at Chiara.</p><p>If he did, he would catch her grinning.</p><p>She cleared her throat quickly and added: „Some of the parents came to tell the poor teacher that they appreciate how <em>civil</em> the mothers of Matilda and Dorothy are about the whole thing and that it must’ve taken much <em>strength of our spirits</em> to put out kids into same school.“</p><p>She couldn’t anymore. The first chuckle escaped her and when Ethan’s eyes met hers, the mischievous sparks were dancing on full display in her irises, her smile wide and so amused.</p><p>Ethan exhaled a sigh full of relief and rolled his eyes and when he looked at Chiara again, she was laughing softly, badly trying to cover her laugh with the hand over her mouth.</p><p>The bizarreness of the whole situation and his wife’s reaction made Ethan laugh too and he slumped down on the couch, pulling Chiara with him.</p><p>„We should give some kind of explanation, right?“ he whispered when they both calmed down.</p><p>„Oh, I don’t know. I am the civil one,“ Chiara smirked smugly. „And with a strong spirit!“</p><p>Ethan laughed again at that, thinking about how any kind of rumors about him and Chiara startled him in the beginning of their relationship and how over the years, Chiara managed to teach him to just let people talk.</p><p>„She really wants that sibling, huh?“ Chiara broke the silence, poking his side softly.</p><p>„Yes, she does,“ Ethan nodded.</p><p>„And you would…want that too, right?“ Chiara asked again, this time much more seriousness in her voice.</p><p>Both Chiara and Ethan were decided to adopt a child back in the days they believed they would never have their own. After Matilda was born, they didn’t really talk about it anymore – they felt too blessed, too lucky that they’ve gotten her and they were happy.</p><p>But the thoughts of adoption never truly left their heads and Chiara knew that especially Ethan considered the option often. She could see him talking to Matilda when she asked for a sister or a brother for her birthday, she saw the dreamy smile as they spoke about little kids.</p><p>And it was not like she was against the idea of adopting a child – quite the opposite. She grew up with two siblings and her brother and sister were one of the best parts of her childhood. She wished she could give Matilda the same feeling, the same love she recieved at her age. She just felt like she would be asking for too much, like it would be selfish to want another little human that would make them happy, when they already had one.</p><p>Those thoughts were not rational, but they were there and they slowed her decisions down.</p><p>„Yes, I would,“ Ethan nodded after a long while, looking straight into Chiara’s eyes.</p><p>He would never push her. But he wouldn’t lie either.</p><p>Chiara nodded and leaned in to press a soft kiss on Ethan’s mouth, pouring her emotions into it, her excitement with the idea just as strong as her anxiety.</p><p>Deep down, she knew that the decision has just been made. That no matter how openly they talked about it or expressed themselves, all three Ramseys wished to share their love and happiness with another soul.</p>
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